


What if?

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-08 00:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20826281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: What if Loki had managed to possess Tony Stark during the Attack on New York?(Beginning Quote is directly from "the Avengers". I do not own the rights to quotes directly from the movie).





	1. Tower gone Wrong

A tall green cloaked figure stood at the window, staring out over the New York skyline. His slick black hair fell at his shoulders. His eyes watched with a small mischievous smile on his face. A hand clenched his golden scepter, the small blue orb giving a small flicker of light.

He turned to face the man pouring himself a drink at the bar. The man’s goatee circled his face, matching the color of his hipster-black hair. 

“The  Chitauri are coming,” said cloaked figure. “Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?”

The man popped the lid off an intricate-looking glass bottle.

“The Avengers,” he said slyly, looking up at the cloaked figure, who gave him a curious look. The man rolled his eyes.

“That’s what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. Earth’s mightiest heroes, sort of thing.”

“Yes,” said the cloaked figure, slowly walking towards the man with a smirk on his face. “I’ve met them.”

The man gave a small, exaggerated smile. 

“Takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one. But, let’s do a headcount here. You’re brother, the demigod…”

The cloaked figure turned back towards the window. The man paused, reaching down a grabbing a pair of metal cuffs. He started putting them on his wrists. 

“... A super-soldier, the living legend, who kind-of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger management issues. A couple of master assassins. And you! Big fella. You’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

The cloaked figure smiled. “That was the plan.”

“Not a great plan.” The man started to walk around the bar. “When they come… and they will… they’ll come for you.”

“I have an army.”

“We have a hulk.”

“Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off.”

“You’re missing the point,” said the man, moving closer to the cloaked figure. “There’s no throne. There is no version of this, where you come out on top. And MAYBE your army comes, and MAYBE it’s too much for us, but that’s all on you. ‘Cause if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll Avenge it.”

The cloaked figure stared at the man, slowly walking towards the man in the middle of the room. The man took a large drink from his glass and set it on the table next to him. The cloaked figure walked until he was right in front of the man.

“How will your friends have time for me…” the cloaked figure said, lifting his scepter until the tip was at chest height. “... when they’re so busy fighting you.”

The scepter started making a whirring noise as the cloaked figure lifted the tip of the scepter onto the chest of the man. A small click noise was heard before the scepter shot out a burst of blue energy into the man’s chest.

The man, with a worried expression, flew backward, clattering to the ground across the room. He tried to stand up, but he felt all the energy in him being taken away. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He looked down where a soft blue glow showed through his shirt. Small sparks were visible through the black. His Arc Reactor was hit by the scepter and was malfunctioning.

“You are mine now…” said the cloaked figure, grabbing the man from under the chin, holding him up in the air. The man grabbed at the figure’s arm. “You belong to me… Tony Stark.”

He let go of the Avenger, who collapsed on the ground. He tried to look in front of him, but a strange feeling was taking over. He felt like a hood was being pulled over his eyes. His mind was beginning to become foggy. He shut his eyes tight. He opened, to find everything with a tint of blue. The room around him, the figure, the scepter, everything had a tint of blue.

Then everything disappeared.


	2. Through a New Lens

Tony blinked, looking around at the room around him. Something was off. He knew where he was, he was in Stark Tower.  _ HIS _ tower. He was Tony Stark, Iron Man, but he couldn’t remember anything else.

He didn’t know what he was doing in the tower, nor what he had been doing prior to this. He didn’t know why there was a war going on outside, or why he had put on his special emergency iron cuffs. He especially couldn’t recall who the figure was in front of him...

Tony stared at the figure in front of him. He slowly stood up, keeping eye contact with the mysterious figure and his luring green eyes.

“Master,” said Tony in a monotone voice. To him, it felt like someone else was talking despite being able to hear his own voice. The figure simply smiled.

“Welcome, Man of Iron. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose, just like you have now become.”

“Usually I would be flattered,” said Tony. “But we have a war raging around us. So enough simple conversation and inform me of what needs to get done.”

“I need you to do something very important,” said Loki, walking back to his position by the window, once again overlooking the disaster on the other side of the glass. “I need you to locate a member of your former team and eliminate him.”

“Simple enough,” answered Tony, fidgeting with the silver cuffs on his wrists. “Who is it?”

“Captain America.”

Tony froze. Something in the back of his mind was trying to warn him, but he couldn’t tell what. He knew who Cap was despite not remembering much about the team, so it wasn’t going to be over-complicated to find him. Yet something still wasn’t right.

Tony shook his head, ridding himself of all strange thoughts. He continued to fidget with the Iron cuffs, tapping them until they vibrated, letting him know they were activated.

“So find Cap and eliminate him?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Nope. Like I said,” Tony said, holding his arms out straight on either side of him. “Easy enough.”

A small red light went off on each of the small cuffs around his wrists. A door opened across the room. A large red rectangle package flew out, circling around the room before settling right behind Tony. The package sprang open, and the shape of a man appeared. The metal parts opened and wrapped itself around Tony. Within seconds the Iron Man armor was completely activated. The helmet folded itself around Tony’s head, the faceplate sliding down over his face.

“Good afternoon, sir,” said an electronic voice inside the helmet.

“Quit it with the small talk, Jarvis,” commanded Tony. “Plot Cap’s coordinates and create a map of the team. We need to get to business.”

“Sir, your vital signs are showing an extremely high heart rate and an increase in the energy in your body.”

“I don’t care. Get started with the plan, Jarvis. Come on!”

“Sir, I would suggest contacting Captain Rogers for support.”

“Jarvis! I don’t care! Get started with the plan!”

“I have detected hostile energy in the general area and inside the suit, sir. Contacting Captain Rog…”

“JARVIS!” Tony shouted. He took off the helmet and reached inside. He pulled on the main connector wire and ripped it out of the helmet. He then turned and fired at the computer behind him, shattering it. Jarvis went silent.

Stark breathed heavily as he stared at the shattered computer screen. There was a pit in his stomach like he had done something unthinkable. Yet something was keeping him from knowing.

Once again he pushed all thoughts from his mind, turning back to face the Asgardian, who had moved away from the window after Tony’s dispute with Jarvis. Tony kept the faceplate closed as he waited for Loki to say something, mainly to hide his internal struggle.

Loki looked him up and down, slightly squinting as he looked at the Iron Man mask. His face was serious and unreadable.

“Don’t fail,” he said.

And with that, Tony was gone. His suit jumped to life, lifting him off the ground and through the small opening on the far side of the room. He flew through the air towards the ground, pulling up at the last second and racing past Grand Central station. Tony ran a manual algorithm, locating Cap within minutes.

He had a mission, and he wasn’t going to fail. He would find Cap and eliminate him, easily. There was a hundred percent chance of success. Why? Because…

He didn’t know what he’d do if he didn’t.


	3. Easy Enough

“Stark. Where have you been?” Asked Cap.

Tony killed the power to the Iron Man suit, landing with a thud on the ground. The rest of the team fought the strange aliens around him, looking like they were neither winning nor losing. 

“I’ve been dealing with an Asgardian. What did you expect?”

“I honestly was expecting him to throw you out the window,” answered Hawkeye, shooting an arrow at an approaching  alien.

One of the aliens came a little too close for his comfort, resulting in him instinctively shooting at the grey creature. The army’s comrade fell to the ground, yet the others didn’t attack him. They continued to focus on the rest of the team.

_ Strange, _ thought Tony.  _ They must know I’m on their side… somehow. _

“Why haven’t you been answering your coms?” asked Natasha, firing at some aliens hiding behind a few parked cars.

“Uh… com’s out. Didn’t have time to fix it.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re here and we are in need of a plan. Have any ideas in that genius, billionaire brain of yours?” Asked Cap, kneeling behind a car to see the invading Aliens.

“Yea. I have one,” Iron Man said. He put up his arms in attack mode. Around his shoulders, weapons and missiles appeared, all pointing straight at Cap.

“Whoa! Tony! Are you out of your mind?” Shouted Hawkeye, turning around and pointing his arrow at Iron Man. Natasha had her weapons pointed at Tony as well. Cap had his shield up in defense. The invading alien army responded to Tony, pointing their alien weapons at the rest of the team.

“Friend Stark,” said Thor. Tony could feel the energy begin to spike outside the suit. “This is unlike you.”

“What do you know about me. You’ve known me for what… eight hours?”

“Tony,” interrupted Steve in a calming voice. “Whatever it is, we’ll help you.”

“Oh, you’ll help me. Right. Because somehow being forced to come together as a team suddenly makes us all a happy little family of friends. Huh? Well, I don’t know any of you. Especially you.”

“Hey, are you all picking this up?” asked Widow, pressing a finger to the com in her ear.

In his moment of anger, Tony had ripped out the main coms in his armor, but Tony could just barely hear a voice ringing through the backup coms in the back.

“Cap… Sir… A malfunction with the… Iron Man Armor…”

“Jarvis,” said Cap. “Jarvis we hear you. What’s the problem.”

The connection became a little stronger. “There appears to be a serious problem with Mr. Stark, sir.”

“What’s wrong with the armor? It looks perfectly fine.”

“Not the armor, sir. Mr. Stark. Between the time he took off the armor to the time he put it back on, a significant increase in energy has been detected.”

“What does that mean Jarvis?”

“I believe Mr. Stark has been… affected… in some form.”

Cap slowly looked up at him. “Tony, what happened when you were up there with Loki?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned with. Now put down the shield.”

“I will, but you have to do something first.”

“Oh, we’re making negotiations now? Great, what is it that you so desire,  _ Captain _ .”

“Open your faceplate.”

“No can do.”

“Why?”

“Uh… “ Tony could feel his mind backpedaling fast. “The faceplate on this armor doesn’t open.”

“Alright, then take off your helmet.”

“Can’t do that either.”

“Why not?”

“Why do I have to explain this to you…?”

Tony felt a pair of large strong arms grab his arms, pulling him back. His repulsors started to charge, ready to blast the green-strong man off of him. Natasha and Hawkeye instantly reacted, lunging forward and grabbing his hands, holding them away from Hulk. Thor reached forward, holding Mjolnir over his arc reactor, electricity sizzling.

Tony struggled against the restraints from the team. The army of Chitauri just stood there, watching instead of acting. Tony searched for a way to escape his restraints, watching as Cap approached closer and closer. He reached his hand towards the faceplate of the armor. In one swift motion, Cap ripped off the faceplate, somehow keeping from denting it.

The team seemed to freeze as they stared at him, looking at something that he couldn’t see. A shock of fear ran through Tony. Was there something wrong with his face? Is it actually his? Is it someone else?

He looked at Cap’s stunned face, searching his expression for a clue. He met Cap’s eyes, but he couldn’t find anything. But Cap gave a slight nod as if in understanding. He raised the golden faceplate, turning it around to the reflective side was facing Tony.

At first Tony didn’t see anything. It was still his reflection, everything down to his black goatee. But as his eyes searched longer, he saw it. Through the gold color of the faceplate, Tony could see what everyone was staring at.

His stunning brown eyes were now a bright icy blue.

_ His cover was blown. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm unsure if I going to have five chapters or more, but I will definitely post up to that point. Please let me know what you all think. I'm using this as sort of a writing experiment.


	4. Initiating Recalibration

“What happened, Tony?”

But Tony didn’t answer. He just continued to stare at the reflection in front of him, questions racing through his mind.  _ What happened? My eyes are blue. They used to be brown and now they’re blue? What the actual hell…? _

“Tell me, Tony.”

“I… I can’t answer that, Cap.”

“Why not?”

“Because he doesn’t know,” interrupted Clint. He stood next to Cap, facing Tony. “The same thing happened to me remember? All I knew was who I was and what I could do, but I couldn’t remember anything else. I remember it now, but back then I didn’t.”

“Then how do we fix this?”

“Cerebral Recalibration,” answered Widow.

“Hit him really hard on the head.”

“Alright,” said Steve. He looked at Tony before taking a step towards him. But Tony wasn’t paying attention. His questions were still running through his mind, blocking his senses of danger.

Tony’s mind slipped away, him realizing the fist flying through the air at him. Tony charged his boot repulsors, flying up and kicking Cap’s fist. He flew up, spinning backward out of Hulk’s grip. He landed on the ground, the faceplate ripping out of Cap’s hands and reconnecting with the suit. Tony looked up, barely avoiding a giant green fist.

Hulk’s fist shattered the cement, instantly creating a hole. Hulk slipped, falling into the dust below. Tony dodged the metal hammer as it flew past his head, launching into flight. Thor followed close behind him. Seeing the Asgardian following below him, he charged his arc repulsor. Firing, the blast hit Thor heads on, knocking him out. His red cape fluttered around him as he fell back to the ground.

_ Two down, _ said a strange voice in his head.  _ Three more to go _ .

Bullets and arrows reflected off his armor as he flew towards the ground, leaving only microscopic scratches. Tony landed in front of them, his repulsors charging. A hard metal object hit him in the back, forcing him to bend over.

“Go help the big guys. I’ve got this.”

Widow and Hawkeye nodded, running behind them towards the two massive holes in the concrete.

Tony stood and turned, firing is repulsors at Cap. It hit his shield, reflecting into a streetlight. Metal rang against metal as Captain America and Iron Man fought in the middle of the street. Cap threw his shield on the ground, bouncing back up to hit Tony in the faceplate. Tony counteracted, blasting Cap before he could regain control of his shield. Cap fell over, the blast hitting him in the waist.

Tony lunged forward, grabbing onto Cap’s neck. Cap reacted, grabbing Tony’s metal hand.

Tony’s vision turned electric blue, despite having already adjusting to the natural blue tint of everything around him. Shivers ran all over him, making his skin crawl. The faceplate opened, allowing Cap to see his face. An ominous voice rang through the air from his lips, yet he wasn’t talking.

Someone was talking through him.

“ _ You can’t escape this, Captain. Not from me, that is. _ ”

Cap grabbed his arm and twisted, pulling away from Tony. In instant reflexes, Tony grabbed Steve, pulling him around. Cap flipped in the air, landing on his back a few feet away. Tony was instantly on him. He could hear his repulsors charging, a worried Cap looking back up at him.

“ _ I told you, Midgardian scum. You will always kneel. And look where you are now. _ ”

“Whatever you’re planning Loki. We’ll stop you.”

_ “Oh? How do you plan to do that? Knock him out? That won’t stop me, not this time. _ ”

“What’s your game, Loki?”

_ “Stark has a gift, one that keeps him alive. But it’s also a curse, one that will be used against him time and time again. _ ”

Fear instantly runs through Tony, the realization hitting him faster than a hulk. His arc reactor. That’s what this is about. Loki is controlling him through his arc reactor and his mind at the same time. The only way to stop Loki is to stop his arc reactor, which would certainly kill him.

“Do it, Cap,” he says, in his own voice this time.

Steve looks at him in confusion. “But Stark, it’ll kill you.”

“ _ Think about what you’re saying Stark. _ ”

“I don’t care.”

“Stark…”

“Like you said, Cap.” He breathed heavily, his vision variating from blue to clear. “It’s time I start laying down on the wire and letting the other guy crawl over me.”

Tony reached forward, grabbing the pocket knife on Cap’s belt, turning it around before slamming it into his arc reactor. Glass and metal shattered, the blue light instantly turning off. Pain ran through him, followed by the feeling that he was suffocating.

He fell back, the pocket knife falling from his hand. The feeling of shock took him over, his vision fading away. Cap stood above him, trying to talk to him, but his words had faded away. There was nothing he could do, nothing anyone could do. All his memory came back as Loki left, leaving him completely to his own demise.

Tony Stark was a few seconds from death itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post another one. I had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to start it, so please let me know what you all think. Your comments are greatly appreciated.


	5. Laying on the Wire

Tony felt himself beginning to fade away, the sense of suffocation overwhelming him. He tried taking a deep breath, but the imaginary cloth over his face kept him from doing so. Memories of being waterboarded and tortured in an Afgan cave flashed through his head, making the sense of suffocation even worse. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t do anything.

He was completely defenseless.

Though he was helpless, he could still hear everything going on around him. But worst of all, he couldn’t answer. All he could do was remain where he was, inert, in pain, and unable to do anything.

He felt other people come and crowd around him, talking loudly and arguing with each other. Tony was having trouble differentiating everyone’s voice.

“What the hell?”

“What are we going to do?”

“We can’t just leave him like this.”

Tony opened his eyes, seeing Barton and Steve on either side of him and Nat kneeling by his head.  
“Is there any way to get another one?”

Widow shook her head. “The only one we could use is back at the tower. And besides, there’s no other arc reactor with this element.”

“Okay. It's a machine, right? Doesn’t it run on electricity? Why don’t we just get Mr. Storm back there to shock him with lightning or something? Seems easy enough.”

“That might work if he had given himself a heart attack, but not if he completely destroyed the thing.”

Tony felt an idea come to him, a relieving feeling in the painful and stressful situation.

“ _ Steve… _ ” he choked out, wondering if anyone actually heard him.

“We’re here Tony. Tell us what we need to do.”

But that was the thing… Tony knew what he wanted to do, but he couldn’t say it. Loki must still have some effect on him, keeping him from getting help.

“The suit…”

Steve sighed loudly above him. “Tony, is that really a priority right now?”

Tony would have rolled his eyes if he weren’t clenching them in so much pain. Cap really was an old man from time.

“The suit…” He said a little louder, aiming towards everyone around.

Barton, Steve, and Nat looked at each other, seeming to be frozen in thought. Tony’s pretty sure he heard Barton say something in disbelief and clarification, but the ringing in his head was getting louder by the second.

Two hands left his shoulders as Steve and Natasha stood up at the same time, Steve pressing a hand to his ear.

“Jarvis? Is there a backup suit somewhere? Specifically one with an arc reactor replacement?”

“Indeed Captain. Problem is it's a prototype that hasn’t been tested yet. It may be unstable and has a high risk of malfunction.”

“We’ll take that risk, Jarvis. Deploy suit.”

“Deploying Mark 8, Captain.”

“Come on Tony,” said Steve in his air, the metal around him being replaced by an arm wrapping around his shoulders.

Tony was on his feet before he even realized he had moved. As embarrassing as it was, he held onto Steve, afraid the sudden head rush alone would cause him to fall. He looked into Steve’s face, smiling slightly in appreciation.

“It’s alright Tony,” said Steve, nodding and lightly squeezing the man’s shoulders. “You’re going to be okay.”

Then all hell broke loose.

Tony had forgotten about the army of aliens during the whole thing, but he was still surprised when blue streaks suddenly flashed around them. Nat and Barton started shouting as Steve helped Tony over to the edge of the bridge.

Remaining upright, Tony waved Steve to go help the others. He turned around and leaned on the small stone wall that marked the edge of the bridge. On hand rested on the edge of the stone wall while the other rested on his shoulder, arm draped across his numb filled chest.

He couldn’t focus on anything, the pain, and fighting behind him overwhelming his mind. All he could do was grip the low wall and pray that Jarvis wasn’t taking his sweet time.

The stone beneath his hand suddenly crumbled, one of the blasts from the aliens causing it to fall apart. As Tony tried to catch himself, the last of his energy fell away. He lost his footing, falling sideways over the edge. He heard someone shout his name behind him, but he couldn’t respond as the darkness finally took him over. There was only complete darkness and wind as he fell to the rubble street below…

Until hard stone collapsed around his back from behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for sticking around this long. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I promise the next chapter will be here soon. Have a great day you guys!


	6. Sacrifice Play

The warmth was the first thing Tony noticed. He was completely encased by it; welcoming and inviting him to relax. He then started to hear the voices. They were distant and he couldn’t make out what words were being said, but he could still capture their presence. He then noticed how relaxed he felt. He wasn’t tense like he normally was - even his shoulders didn’t hold their normal tightness.

A tingle ran over his skin, bringing sensation back to the limbs he couldn’t feel before. It wasn’t frightening or concerning, in fact, it made Tony want to giggle like a little kid. It started at his chest before running down his arms and legs. When it reached his fingers and the tips of his toes, it switched directions, traveling an alternative path up to his chest. The sensation rejoined back at the center of his chest, collecting and swirling together.

The sensation condensed - and then exploded outwards.

Tony’s eyes shot open, his lungs taking in a deep breath. Lights flashed in his eyes, but he wasn’t sure if it was that or the lack of oxygen that gave him the instant headache. The suffocation was gone, Tony’s chest merely aching from aftershock rather than strain.

“Recovery arc-reactor responses online,” a voice rang through the helmet. “I’ve got you, sir.”

“Jarvis.”

“Welcome back, sir.”

“Tony?” A new worried voice asked, echoes of screams and gunfire behind him.

“No need to shout so loud Cap,” Tony answered, taking control of the suit from Jarvis. “I’m right here.”

Tony straightened himself out, arms next to him as he hovered in the air. From here he could see just how much damage Loki and the Chitauri army had done. Buildings were crumbling, cars were completely destroyed, and smoke was billowing into the sky from flames he couldn’t see. More aliens kept spilling out of the blue and black wormhole above him, the beacon of light still firing from the top of his tower. Internally, Tony felt drawn to his tower. That was  _ his _ tower being used to bring all this chaos here and he wanted to shut it down  _ right now _ , but there were bigger matters at hand, including a struggling soldier in a spangly outfit getting his worth handed to him.

The Iron Man landed next to the Captain, firing at the Alien attempting to sneak up behind him. He heard the clang of metal ricocheting off the payment behind him, Tony taking down two more aliens as he turned. No words were exchanged - no prior planning was set - as Tony fired his repulsors at the Captain’s shield, reflecting at the Chitauri as the Captain turned. It was a beautiful sight, two members of a make-shift team pulling off a maneuver as though they had done it hundreds of times before.

As the head-count of aliens around them fell to zero, the two Avengers took a moment to breathe, knowing they couldn’t relax just yet. Cap removed the helmet from his head while Tony’s suit lifted the faceplate for him. The man from time was looking at him with mixed emotions - appreciation, exhaustion, and Tony could’ve sworn he saw some relief flash through his face.

“What? Are you getting sleepy?

Cap let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “You’re exhausting.”

“Thank you.” He looked up, watching as even more aliens poured through the wormhole. “What’s the plan?”

“Honestly? Don’t really have one.” Tony couldn’t necessarily blame him on that one. “All I know is we have to take care of that portal. None of what we’re doing is going to mean a damn thing if we don’t close that… Stark?”

Tony’s attention had completely disappeared, looking at the white streak on the horizon. Years of building and investing in weapon’s technology had trained his brain on what to look for, and if that’s blur is what it appeared to be…

“Tony?” Cap asked next to him, who had turned to see what the billionaire was looking at. “What is that?”

Tony merely answered by activating his coms. “Fury?”

“Stark, do you copy?” The eye patch man said. “There’s a nuke headed towards the city.”

“How long?”

“Two minutes.”

It took everything in Tony’s being not to swear. First a malicious demi-god, then an army of aliens, and now this? Can this day just end? Please?

“Tony, what should we do?” Cap asked, looking at him. Tony could see just how much worry was running through the old man’s face. “We can’t just let it hit New York. There are hundreds-of-thousands of people here.”

“Well. There’s one place I can think of.”

They both turned, looking at the glowing hole in the middle of the sky, aliens still emerging in a constant current. Tony closed the mask over his face, as if doing so would keep Cap from seeing the sheer stupidity about to come out of his mind.

“Jarvis put everything you got into the thrusters.”

“On it sir.”

“Tony, no,” Cap said, grabbing his arm. “You almost just died,  _ literally _ . You’re in no shape to go through with this.”

He was right. He was one-hundred percent right. Tony knew he was already going to have trauma from stabbing a knife practically through  _ his own heart _ , he didn’t know if he was capable of carrying this burden too. But he had to try, didn’t he? He had already hurt too many people by not stopping Loki when he had the chance, including his own teammates. It was his responsibility - his obligation - to go through with this.

“Let me go, Cap,” Tony said, opening the faceplate once more to look into the captain’s bright blue eyes with desperation. “Let me do this.”

For a second, he one hundred percent thought Cap wasn’t going to let him go, yet the super-soldier took a step back, removing his hand. No words were exchanged between the two as Tony took off into the sky, repulsors on maximum power as he sped towards the missile.

“Sir,” Jarvis quietly said in his earpiece. “Shall I try Miss Potts?”

Tony’s mind paused, the world briefly disappearing as her beautiful face flashed through the front of his thoughts. He had forgotten about her - how could he forget about her? - in the time that he was dealing with Loki. She was on a plane to DC right now, undoubtedly watching the horror unraveling on the TV, anxious as she watched him streak across the sky with a missile now attached to his back.

“I can close it,” Black Widow’s voice rang through the intercoms. “Can anyone copy? I can close the portal.”

_ How did she get on the roof? _ Tony thought, but he shook the thought away. The present flashed back to him, the buildings of Manhattan racing past his suit’s peripheral vision. Tony could feel all the eyes on him, watching him with anxiety, fear, and a little bit of both. It didn’t phase him as he aimed towards the tower, didn’t cloud his mind as he put power to the vertical thrusters to begin ascending the side of his own building.

When he briefly felt his chest scrape against the top of the building, he was finally able to focus on one thing: getting it through that blackened breach. Tony knew he didn’t need to get that far inside the wormhole, just enough so that any gravity that was potentially spilling through the space-door wouldn’t drag the missile back through. There was a brief chance he could still make it back before Nat closed it, more so if the ejection of the thrusters was enough of a force to propel him backward.

But as the sides of the wormhole passed him - as the freezing absent mass of space surrounded him - all those thoughts, those probabilities disappeared. When the call to Pepper cut out and the words of Jarvis shorted out, Tony’s mind was blank. He didn’t recognize when he let go of the missile, blankly watching as it sped towards the enormous alien ship waiting before him.

As the thrusters finally released off his back and he felt himself falling -  _ falling? _ \- back the same way he came, Tony let out the breath he had been holding for an unknown increment of time. Everything in him relaxed, the terrifying mask plastered on his face by his emotions dissipating into the space around him. And as he closed his tired eyes, the view of the spaceship exploding violently the last thing seen before the inside of his eyelids, Tony finally accepted the thing he had been fighting against for the past hour or so… 

Tony Stark welcomed death with peace as he glided through space, long before his lifeless form fell back to the burning streets of Manhattan below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA! I finally did it! I finally posted the second to last chapter! And it only took - damn - ten months to do so. Oh well. Thanks to you guys for sticking around so long. And if you're new, welcome! It's so great to have you.
> 
> Now that I have finally posted this chapter, I hope to finish this story in the next few weeks, so stick around and look out for updates. As always, please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will answer them as soon as I can!
> 
> Thanks for reading, you cool beans people, and remember to keep on smiling. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

**Author's Note:**

> I know that with the What If series coming out there are a lot of ideas that are going to be covered, but please let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
